Boris Johnson’s flagship police recruitment pledge will leave more than half of forces below 2010 officer levels and entrench existing inequalities between Tory heartlands and our major towns and cities. The government has confirmed that officer numbers will be allocated through the outdated funding formula, which the current Policing Minister has called “manifestly unfair” and subject to “constant complaints and nobody really had the cajones to get a grip on it”.

Surrey, which has only had a net reduction of eight officers since 2010, will be able to recruit as many as 260 officers, while major metropolitan areas dealing with surging violence and knife crime – such as the West Midlands, Northumbria and Merseyside – will still be far short of the officer levels they had in 2010.

Boris Johnson thinks he can get away with misleading people, but this again shows he can’t be trusted to be honest and that his claims fall apart under scrutiny. The truth is the brutal cuts he and his colleagues voted for will not be reversed and our communities will continue to be less safe as a result.

Labour will end austerity and properly invest in the police, youth services, our NHS and other public services to rebuild our communities.